Divers Clean Up Erieau Channel September 21, 2010 by lukesheppard

As a part of the world-wide Project AWARE international clean-up, this Sunday saw scuba divers retrieve all sorts from the Erieau channel including bikes, roofing shingle and a cracked safe. This ‘Splash for Trash’  dive was billed at the Red Devil Scuba Divers where owner Gary Smith decided they would embark on the harbour clean-up in Lake Erie off Erieau which is a hot spot for divers featuring several shipwrecks.

Previously, the Red Devil Scuba Divers team have commenced clean up on parts of the St. Clair River close to Port Lambton. In 2009, the club cleaned up two tons of debris from the river. Throughout September people all over the globe are taking part in the international clean-up events to make our beaches and waters a cleaner and safer place. Last year the AWARE project saw a massive 245 tons of debris collected across the world. Every year, an estimated six million tons of debris goes into the sea which harms the underwater habitats and sea life. Scuba divers get a first hand experience of what happens under the water and have started using their skills to remove the debris and to gather information to inform conservation.

The Red Devil Scuba Diver club owner has said is was ‘disgusting’ what the volunteer divers found at the bottom of the channel at the weekend. He said that the divers efforts were somewhat restricted by the strong offshore current in the channel. 16 divers and 24 other volunteers removed as much debris a possible from the channel bed. Smith said it looked like someone had backed up at the edge of the channel and just dumped a whole load of shingle. Other rubbish they also found included steel tubing and tin cans. Smith said: “Probably the most unique item found underwater was the steel safe that had been cracked open.” Project AWARE US are coordinating volunteers to help clean-up of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. He said Project AWARE us also coordinating volunteers to aid in clean-up of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. For further information on the Project AWARE clean-up project visit their website and help clean-up your local shoreline www.projectaware.org.